Chapter Sixteen

“I am a stubborn idiot.”

Lian sat on the bed leaning against the wall. Her knees were pulled up so that Ellie could rest against them as they stared at each other.

Lian held one set of Ellie’s hands and wiggled her arms they way the little Lyrian liked. The nestling’s tentacles were still holding tight to Lian’s sides. She could tell that Ellie was scared.

So was Lian.

“It’s okay,” Lian said. “Nuar will come for us.”

She didn’t know how she knew. She just did.

She could feel him out there. Somewhere close. He was searching for her.

“Storming out was not the smartest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “I should have stayed and asked more questions.”

Light caught on the shining wristbands she wore. “I could have at least asked him how to use these things.”

For all she knew, they had weapons and shields and distress calls or something that could help get them out of this mess.

It didn’t matter if they did. Lian had no idea how to activate them.

She imagined what it would have been like if she’d asked Nuar about the wristbands. He would have teased her as he taught her. She would have glared a lot—as always. But he would have laughed and kissed her till she couldn’t think straight.

That’s what life with him would be like. She was sure of it. And the more she thought about it, the more she wanted that life.

She wanted someone who wasn’t scared off by her moods. Someone who didn’t back down when she was mad at them. Someone who loved her because of who she was—not in spite of it.

Nuar was her soulmate. Now that she’d had time to think, she knew it was true. She could feel it. She’d been able to all along, if she was honest with herself.

No one had ever gotten to her the way he did. No one got under her skin.

Except Nuar. Because he was already there. Part of her soul that she hadn’t realized was missing.

If he didn’t find her, she and Ellie were heading for a laboratory. Lian wrapped her arms around Ellie and hugged her close.

What would they do to the nestling? How could Lian possibly protect her?

She should never have agreed to babysit. If Ellie had been with Craig or Barbara, Gary couldn’t have taken her. He’d said so himself.

This was Lian’s fault.

No it isn’t.

The voice in her head sounded like Nuar. She looked up, almost thinking she’d see him there, even though she knew he wasn’t in the room. She could still feel the distance between them. It was just wishful thinking.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it.

She rested her cheek on the top of Ellie’s head and closed her eyes, imagining that Nuar was in the room. Wondering what he’d say.

This is Gary’s fault and his alone. He’s the one who kidnapped you.

But Lian was the one who had run off.

And if you hadn’t? Gary was waiting for a chance to take Ellie. If he hadn’t taken you with her, he would have taken someone else. Or taken her alone.

Okay, Nuar-in-her-head had a point. Lian wasn’t the only one who babysat Ellie. Sometimes, Olivia would watch the little Lyrian.

The idea of one of her best friends being taken along with Ellie was too much. Lian’s eyes filled with tears again.

Lian had been taken, and she was a Cygnian soulmate. Nuar could find her. He would find her. She was sure of it.

If one of her friends had been taken instead… Lian squeezed Ellie tighter, shying away from that line of thinking.

What she needed to do was figure out how to help Nuar. The trouble was, she didn’t have any weapons or fighting skill.

She would fix that after Nuar rescued her. Learn to be a warrior. Challenge him to battle to claim him as her husband—and beat him.

Somehow.

The door to the room slid open. Gary stood on the other side.

“Hello, Lian,” he said. “I hope you were able to get a bit of rest.”

“Fuck you.”

“You should watch your language around the nestling.”

“Uck,” Ellie said. “Uckoo.”

Oh crap.

Gary had the gall to laugh. “See?”

Lian knew she couldn’t set fire to him with her eyes. She tried anyway.

“When you’re done glaring at me, could you join me in the command room?” he asked.

She wanted to say, “When Hell freezes over,” but Ellie was still saying, “Uckoo,” over and over.

Lian really hoped that wasn’t Ellie’s first word.

“I should have thought that through,” Gary said. “You’ll never be done glaring. I need you in command. Now.”

“Give me one reason I should do anything to help you.”

“I’m about to call your boyfriend.”

Her heart leapt into her throat.

“Nuar?” she asked.

“Unless you have a different Cygnian boyfriend?”

She scowled, not wanting to cooperate, but desperate to see Nuar again.

Dammit.

She slid off the bed.

“Excellent,” Gary said. He stepped back so she could walk past him into the narrow corridor, gesturing toward the room she’d seen earlier at the end of the hall.

The command room was more spacious than the room that served as her cell. The walls were rounded, making it feel like she was walking inside a giant ball as she crossed the floor to the center of the room. Even the ceiling was curved.

She could make out panels on some spots of the walls, with buttons and etchings and flashing lights—none of which Lian had the faintest idea how to use. She glanced around, hoping for something like an emergency exit.

Right. An exit into space. Like that would be a good idea.

An escape pod would be nice, though.

Gary tapped a few of the buttons on his bracer. The walls surrounding them were replaced with a field of stars. The dark flooring blended in, making her feel as if she was standing in the middle of outer space.

Lian’s breath caught in her chest. It was absolutely beautiful—and terrifying. All she could see was blackness and stars.

Until she turned around.

Floating in the middle of the void was a huge crystal. It was milky-white with iridescent rainbow patterns rippling across its surface, like a moonstone. Even without something for scale, Lian had the sense that it was huge.

Lights flickered behind her. When she turned, she saw that a monitor had appeared on one of the walls, superimposed over the backdrop of space. Kral was pictured in the center of the screen, his orange eyes glowing bright. Nuar stood just behind his shoulder.

Lian took a step forward instinctively. Nuar’s eyes widened when he saw her.

The room they were in looked like it was the same milky-white as the huge crystal. Did that mean it was their ship?

Gary bowed slightly. “Greetings, Kral.”

“Give us your prisoners,” Kral demanded.

“Not one for formalities, I guess,” Gary said.

Ellie took that moment to chime in with, “Uckoo!”

Lian held the nestling closer against her chest.

“There are no prisoners on this ship,” Gary said. “Only test subjects.”

Nuar’s eyes widened, their red irises gleaming like lasers. He shoved Kral aside.

“I will rip your limbs from your body and beat you to death with them,” Nuar yelled.

Lian would watch. She’d probably cover Ellie’s eyes, though.

“Interesting,” Gary said. “I might be persuaded to return Lian to you, but only if you explain how you’ve managed to follow me.”

A muscle in Nuar’s cheek twitched.

“Not even the Vegans can see through this cloak,” Gary went on. “And yet, your ship followed perfectly, no matter how many times I changed course.”

“Then you know you can’t escape us,” Kral said.

Gary laughed. “When I realized you were tracking me, I set up a series of tests to see how accurate your sensors are. I know you can tell my general vicinity, but you can’t predict where I’m going and you certainly can’t stop me from leaving.”

“You think so?” Kral said, a menacing note in his voice.

Gary smirked. “The ship’s engines have only been at half capacity.”

Kral’s brow furrowed and his eyes ramped up their own glow.

“Is it the wristbands?” Gary asked. “I was thinking about removing them so I could toss them out an airlock, just in case. I’d love to examine their technology, but it’s more important that I figure out this flaw in the ship’s cloak.”

Nuar snorted. “You can’t remove them. You don’t know how.”

“Of course I do,” Gary said. “They’re attached to her wrists. I simply remove her wrists.”

This time, Lian snorted. “They’re kind of attached to my arms, dumbass.”

Gary turned toward her with a dispassionate stare. “For the moment.”

She felt like ice had flooded her veins. He couldn’t be serious, could he?

Gary started tapping more commands on his bracer. A short, thin line of intense yellow light projected from the top of it. The bulky bracer made a high-pitched humming sound.

He started walking toward Lian, and said, “Don’t worry. The laser will cauterize the injury. I can even deaden the pain, if you promise to cooperate.”

Lian hugged Ellie tighter and took a step back.

“Sadirian scum!” Nuar yelled. “Harm her, and I’ll throw you into Cygnus X to let the black hole rip you apart atom by atom.”

Gary turned back to the screen. “You can’t get signals through my shielding. If you could activate her wristbands’ defenses, you wouldn’t be so panicked. That’s interesting. It’s logical to assume if the shielding blocks signals from one direction, it also blocks them from the other.”

“What?” Lian asked, her heart racing as she kept staring at the laser-like light coming from his bracer.

Gary followed her gaze and smiled. He tapped a button on his bracer and the light vanished.

“The wristbands aren’t what they’re tracking,” Gary said. “You can keep your hands for a while longer. Of course, if your boyfriend tells me how to remove the wristbands without harming you, you could remain intact for the foreseeable future. Once we get to the base, my colleagues are going to want a closer look at them.”

“I have another suggestion,” Kral said. The corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile. “Return Lian and Ellie to us unharmed and I promise you a quick end.”

“Cygnians love to make threats,” Gary said. “But one ship is—”

Kral interrupted. “Who said I only have one ship?”

A beeping sound filled the room. Gary’s mouth dropped open as he slowly turned, staring at the view of space all around them.

As Lian looked as well, ships winked into view. A cream colored, nautilus-looking ship that was four times the size of Nuar’s appeared off to her left. A small, angular ship straight out of a scifi movie—perfect for space fights and racing through atmospheres—was to her right. Superimposed behind the screen in front of them was a large, cylindrical ship with a gunmetal gray hull that she could barely make out next to the backdrop of space, even after it dropped its cloak.

Gary slowly turned back to the monitor where Kral was openly smirking. Behind him, Nuar’s brow was still pinched with worry as he stared at Lian.

“I’m surprised,” Gary said.

“What, that the Cygnian crown prince asked for help?” Kral asked, a bit of a growl in his voice.

“No,” Gary said. “That they answered. There’s a wonderful Earth expression: ‘You have to be a friend to have a friend.’ The Cygnians aren’t exactly known for being…outgoing.”

“Things change,” Kral said.

“Indeed, they do.” Gary smiled. “But not quite enough, I think. Four vessels can’t box me in.”

“Again, you underestimate my friends.” Kral sneered a bit as he said the word.

Lian wondered why, until she saw four flying saucers ripple into view above them. She knew those ships. Sadirian interceptors.

From the sound of the renewed beeping, Lian wouldn’t be surprised if there were more below, where the view was blocked.

“Sadirians?” Gary said, his voice filled with disbelief. “You would work with the Coalition?”

He turned back to Lian. “What is so special about you that they would do this? That Kral himself would stand alongside the same Sadirians who experimented on his sister for decades?”

“The way I see it, the only sadistic Sadirian here is standing in front of me,” Kral said.

Gary laughed. “I suppose you’d see it that way.”

“You have nowhere to run,” Kral said.

Gary was quiet for a few moments. Something about his calm demeanor was actually freaking Lian out more than anything she’d seen or heard so far.

“Sadirians, you don’t have to do this,” Gary said, a sudden strength entering his tone. He looked around at the ships surrounding them. “The High Council will take care of you. They’ll take care of everyone, as they always have.”

“The High Council has been destroyed,” Kral said.

Gary continued as if Kral hadn’t spoken. “Things don’t have to be like this. Chaotic and uncertain. The High Council will restore order. Help me and you’ll see.”

Lian could barely breathe. She knew there were factions within the Sadirians that were still loyal to the High Council and that they hadn’t all been reached yet. Gary was proof of that.

But the High Council was gone—and it was a good thing. How could anyone want to return to being controlled and programmed like a machine?

The interceptors started to move away.

It was like a blow to the chest. All of them were leaving… Except, they stopped when they were perfectly equidistant from each other. The interceptors shifted to different angles so that their flat undersides pointed at Gary’s ship. Beams of white light shot out from one ship to another. The light formed a web-like net surrounding Gary’s ship.

Lian let out a laugh that was closer to a sob. She hugged Ellie as tight as she could. They were going to be okay.

“I guess they’ve chosen their side,” Lian said.

Gary looked all around them, then said, “Apparently so.”

He opened his mouth and then closed it again, as if he wanted to say something, but was unsure of himself. His face paled, and she could see him work to swallow. When he turned to her, he looked nervous for the first time since she’d known him.

“Dean isn’t going to like this,” he said.

“Wait, the Scorpiian?” Lian asked. “He’s behind this?”

Gary didn’t respond, but his lips thinned.

“We can protect you from him,” Lian said. “We’ll keep you safe.”

Gary gave a mirthless laugh. “No one is safe from him. He’s the High Council’s right hand. Now and always. He chose me to help him with this and I’ve failed. I’ve failed the High Council.”

“There’s still time,” Lian said. “You don’t have to hold on to their programming.”

He smiled up at her. “But I want to. Dean chose me. I want to help. There’s only one thing left that I can do.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, then took a deep breath and let it out. He turned toward the main viewscreen, then lifted his bracer and tapped in a few commands.

He paused, his hand hovering over a blinking red light. Something about that lingering moment filled her with renewed dread.

He looked at her over his shoulder, his smile wistful.

“I really did like you,” he said.

“Gary, wait!” she screamed. But it was too late.

He tapped his bracer, then closed his eyes.

The room erupted into flames. Lian dropped into a crouch, wrapping as much of herself around Ellie as she could, even though she knew it was futile. She had one last glimpse of Gary before the explosion engulfed him.

Lian clenched her eyes shut. She could still see light flickering behind her eyelids.

Oh, Ellie. I’m so sorry…

Lian held her breath. Everything felt suspended, like time itself had stopped. She waited for the pain and heat to hit her. Something soft slapped her face instead. She opened one eye, then another.

Ellie was staring up at her, chewing on her fingers. She poked Lian’s face again with one of her tentacles.

They were floating in space. All around them, scraps of twisted metal floated in an eerie, suspended landscape. Everything was gold-tinged.

Why aren’t we dead?

She tried to say something comforting to Ellie, but no sound came out. It felt like there was something covering her mouth—her entire body. It tingled a bit, like the field Nuar had used while they were “bonding.”

She should probably conserve oxygen anyway. Where was it coming from?

There was air around her, but only just next to her skin. She could feel it sliding over her cheeks as she breathed in and out.

A large hunk of debris floated past her, clearing more of her view. Before her, she could see the Cygnian ship, beautifully backlit against the stars. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of Nuar so close and yet out of reach.

Except…

A hatch opened in the side of the ship. Nuar gripped the sides of the opening. He flung himself forward, arms outstretched, heading straight for Lian and Ellie.

He wasn’t wearing a spacesuit or anything. He didn’t even have on a shirt.

The spines running down his back were standing bolt upright and he was staring at her with more intensity than she’d ever seen. His eyes were glowing bright red.

Please catch us… Please catch us…

As he drew closer, she could see a golden glow surrounding him, just above his skin. Was it an energy field?

It was the same gold that had been tinging everything in her view since the ship exploded. She wondered if she was in one of those, too.

Nuar spread his arms just before reaching her, then wrapped them around her and Ellie both, drawing them against his chest.

Lian burrowed her face against him. A weird energy crackled over her skin. She felt tears flowing down her face and for once, she didn’t care.

She was in Nuar’s arms. She and Ellie were safe. And that was all that mattered.